Monday, October 6, 2008

I think it's safe to say that The Rage: Carrie 2 is a completely unnecessary sequel that does nothing but taint the original. Brief flashes from the first film appear sporadically throughout "The Rage," and all they do is remind us of how much better Brian De Palma's movie was. The only connection the two film's have is that they both have 'Carrie' in the title and share the presence of Sue Snell (Amy Irving), one of the survivor's from the original. She's a guidance consular now, and is alarmed when she notices a student is starting to show Carrie-esque symptoms (she moves a coffee mug and destroys a snow globe with her mind). Since it's 1999, this new Carrie White (now some chick named Rachel Lang) is a black clothing enthusiast who lives a solitary existence at her school (the always compelling Mena Suvari plays her BFF, but she doesn't last long) and has Marilyn Manson posters on her bedroom wall. If I was in charge of production design, I would have put up tons of Sheena Easton posters and painted the walls of her room a dark orange instead. But that's neither here nor there. The luminescent gorgeousness of Emily Bergl saved The Rage: Carrie 2, directed by Katt Shea (Stripped Kill II: Live Girls), from being a complete disaster and then some. She's an actress who posses an otherworldly form of beauty. So much so, that I was literally transfixed by her creaseless skin and lithesome frame. And since she made the film tolerable, I would gladly stroke her creamy thighs to show my gratitude. Hard to believe she would go on to play Francie on Gilmore Girls after this (the clique-ish girl who gives Paris and Rory a hard time during their final year at Chilton).

Anyway, making Carrie...I mean, Rachel, all veiny during the rage sequence was a bold stylistic choice. I must have missed the explanation behind the sudden burst of veins, because I don't recall Sissy Spaček ever being covered with veins. But nevertheless, I liked what the newly acquired veins brought to the all-around fury of it all.

The so-called "rage sequence" was a surprisingly effective orgy of unchecked violence and wanton destruction. Sure, the excessive gore and mayhem felt tacked on, but I thought it helped alleviate the non-killy-ness of the film's first third. In a crazy coalesce of shattered glass and flying debris, the sylphlike outcast opens up a massive can of comeuppance on the jock hierarchy of her school.

Buckets of their asshole blood redecorate the walls of the obscenely-furnished house.

The fact they all deserve it, only made it sweeter. So what if their jock-based tomfoolery was a tad over-the-top throughout most of the film. Their slaughter was wholly justified. Even a simple swimming pool drowning is rendered toothsome. And dare I say, mildly erotic. Nevertheless, it's mediocre stuff.